With the rise of multi-processors and multi-processing operating systems, it is not unusual for a user to have multiple documents, applications, programs or web pages (hereinafter together referred to collectively as documents) simultaneously open and running on a single machine. While the processor may be able to handle user desired operations such as browsing or modifying the documents, after a user selects or activates a particular document, the user may desire an effective way by which to organize, view, switch between or manage multiple open or active documents.
Conventional operating systems have proposed several different alternatives for managing a plurality of open documents. For example, older conventional systems displayed a plurality of windows that a user may tile or cascade on the screen. Newer conventional systems have provided the user the capability of opening an application, such as a web browser, with multiple tabs that allow a user to view multiple documents (or web pages) of the same application or program. The user can then select any of the various tabs to activate the corresponding document. However, a user may find it difficult to quickly determine what portion of each document is displayed, relative to the rest of the document.